Kennedy lifts Clemson past William & Mary in opener

CLEMSON — Clemson leaned heavily on a trio of Byrnes products to sneak past William & Mary with a 2-0 victory Friday to open the baseball season.Designated hitter Shane Kennedy, a junior college transfer playing his first game for the Tigers, delivered the game-winning blast with a two-run homer to left with two outs in the eighth inning.“We just kind of had to feel our way through the game and luckily our pitching and defense held up,” Clemson coach Jack Leggett said. “It was a good win and good to get it behind us and hopefully we'll be able to come out (next game) and be more relaxed on offense.”Sophomore righty Daniel Gossett (Byrnes) allowed four hits and one walk with six strikeouts in 6 2/3 innings while throwing 61 of 76 pitches for strikes. High school teammate Steven Duggar made a memorable collegiate debut with two singles and a double in three at-bats (three of Clemson's six hits) while also catching the game-ending fly ball with the potential tying run on second.Another former Rebel — big lefty Joseph Moorefield — pitched to only one batter after relieving Gossett with two outs in the seventh, but induced an inning-ending fly-out to Duggar with runners on first and second.Gossett, a lifelong Clemson fan who had long dreamed of being the team's No. 1 starter, was in mid-season form in throwing 25 of his first 30 pitches for strikes. Tribe senior Brett Koehler also was extremely effective, going all eight innings, allowing six hits and zero walks.“I was thinking to myself to get that first inning out of the way and then I was rolling,” Gossett said. “I was trying to work on keeping my stuff down in the zone. My changeup was working good although my slider wasn't exactly where I wanted it. It felt great to come out here and get some confidence with getting this first one under our belt.” Kennedy, batting cleanup, was hitless in his first three trips before smashing a first-pitch fastball over the left-field wall after Steve Wilkerson extended the eighth with a two-out bunt single.“It means a lot (hitting fourth) because it shows (Leggett) has some confidence in me to do a job and I appreciated that,” Kennedy said. “I know our team is expecting some things out of me and I struggled the first three at-bats and just tried to settle down knowing it was opening day and tried to make contact. “Honestly, we needed base runners with it coming down to the last inning and I was just trying to put a ball in play and see what happens.”Gossett allowed only two runners to reach second base, but Koehler was keeping Clemson equally off balance. Duggar's singles to lead off the third and fifth innings were Clemson's only hits until catcher Garrett Boulware singled him to second in the fifth before both runners were stranded.“When I woke up this morning I was a little antsy,” said Duggar, who joined shortstop Tyler Krieger as the two freshmen starters. “It was good to get in the box and get a hit out of the way on my first pitch. Once that one came the balls kept finding holes for me and I was able to put good swings on the ball.”The Tigers had also placed runners at first and second with one out in the fourth thanks to a pair of errors before leaving both on base. Clemson relievers Clay Bates (1 1/3) and Matt Campbell (the last two outs) finished up.“(Wins) come in all different shapes and sizes and none are ever going to be the same,” Leggett said.